Until I set you free
by Insanity-is-Freedom
Summary: The day Marco is captured is the day he meets Rear Admiral Monkey D. Luffy. A strange man who offers him an even stranger deal. - MarineLuffy!AU, MarcoxLuffy, Marcolu
1. Day I - Promise of Frienship

**Hi everyone!**

 **This is a fic that I've had on my computer for ages but I was struggling to finish it. Thanks to Korazan's help I not only managed to complete it I also rewrote certain chapters, so hopefully it's a lot better now than it used to be!**

 **Let me know what you think of it! ;)**

* * *

As usual, his office felt unnaturally neat. He didn't spend enough time in it to mess it up to an agreeable level. Not that he was unhappy about that. The marine base he had been assigned to was, not only remote, but also the most abjectly boring place he had ever been in. Granted, it was in the New World and was therefore subjected to quirky weather but even freak tornados didn't excite him anymore. He didn't know which idiot had had the brilliant idea of building in a marine base in a corner ocean that literally _no one_ ever visited, but they might as well have made it a vacation resort for all that happened around here.

Rear Admiral Monkey D. Luffy heaved a deep sigh, tearing his eyes away from the window from which he could see the mildly agitated sea, and looked down at the letter he had been painstakingly writing. Or trying to write. Who knew it could be so hard to write some words on a sheet of paper? He reread the few lines he had managed to scrap together so far:

' _Dear Grandfather'_

After a moment's pause, he scratched 'grandfather' and replaced it with 'Garp', then scratched it again and wrote 'grandfather' again.

' _We haven't met in a while. Are you doing well? I heard from old woman Tsuru that you were in Paradise…'_

Luffy groaned and threw himself back into his chair, burying his fingers in his black locks in a frustrated gesture. He didn't even know what he was trying to say to the old man. He hadn't seen him in two years and they hadn't exchanged a word since then. It wasn't like they had ever been particularly close to begin with. Garp had always been a vagrant and Luffy….well, Luffy had always been alone hadn't he?

From his earliest memories he had been left on one island or another at the mercy of whatever predators lived on it. He had met plenty of people through the course of trips his grandfather dragged him on and although he hadn't disliked all of them, he had found himself completely unable to get attached to any of them. Sometimes he had to wonder if he had always been preparing for the inevitable….

The young man smiled bitterly. Sometimes he felt like the years he had lived stretched far beyond just seventeen years. Every day felt like an eternity. A painful eternity.

He looked back to the letter and in a split-moment decision crumpled it and threw it in the nearby waste basket. He sighed again, rubbing his forehead in a wary gesture. What was the point anyway? Garp would find out eventually. In fact, he probably knew already. Either way, Luffy doubted the old man cared. If he did he might have bothered to give signs of life these past years.

He got up and walked to the window. It was a nice day for the New World. Ideal for his plan. He smiled to himself. The prey he had chosen was no mere rookie but that was what gave the game its thrill. He had been gazing out from his window a few days before, letting his eyes sweep over faraway cities and islands when he had caught sight of the pirate. Luffy had recognised him at once. He had proceeded to excitedly take note of the location – an island he knew to be under Whitebeard's protection – and form his plan.

Today was the day it was put into action and if all had gone well, the ship he had sent should be back soon. If it hadn't returned already. He had been so caught up in his epistolary troubles that he hadn't seen the hours tick by.

He was just thinking of going down to the shipyard to check on the situation himself when a sharp knock came from the door.

"Come in." Luffy called out, reflexively straightening himself and checking that his red shirt and black tie were presentable, before hurriedly moving to stand behind his desk.

During the times he was around, Garp always insisted on his keeping a respectable appearance. The old man had always acted as if Luffy needed to be better than perfect. It had taken a long time for Luffy to understand why the old man and old woman Tsuru always insisted on his having proper looks and pristine manners and more than anything, absolute obedience. When he had found out the reason, he had laughed hysterically in the loneliness of his bedroom and murmured bitterly to the walls: 'it'll take more than that to save me'.

Luffy sighed and banished the grim memory from his mind with a shake of his head. It was all in the past now and he needed to concentrate on the present. _That_ brought a smile back to his face.

"What is it?" he asked the soldier who had just entered the room.

The man came to stand in front of his desk and saluted before answering.

"The prisoner has arrived, sir."

"Very good." Luffy said not bothering to hide his jubilant smile. "Bring him here."

"Here, sir?" the soldier looked hesitant.

Bringing a prisoner to a Rear Admiral's office as if he were a common guest was most likely not standard procedure. Luckily, Luffy had never cared much for standard procedures. Boring and dull, that's what they were. Which was why he made a point to break tradition and protocol on a daily basis. His soldiers were just a little reluctant to follow suit.

"Yes, here. Now run along and stop wasting my time." he ordered, with a dismissive wave.

With a final salute, the soldier was out the door and running down the corridor. Once his subordinate was out of sight, Luffy raised his arms above his head and stretched slowly. He felt like he was finally waking up from the most uninteresting dream one could imagine. Now the real excitement could begin.

He went over to the heavy Marine coat that he had abandoned on the sofa and threw it over his shoulders before taking place in one of the armchairs. Now, all that was left to do was wait. Not that he minded, he was quite good a waiting. In a sense he had been waiting his whole life.

As it happened he didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, men adorned in the blue and white uniform of the Marines were filing inside his office. In the middle of the group, surrounded by the armed men, was a tall man with a mop of blond hair that gave him the air of a pineapple, his wrists bound together with seastone manacles.

"Marco the Phoenix." Luffy commented, testing the name in his mouth.

A pair of disinterested blue eyes fell on him.

"I've been wanting to meet you." Luffy continued, not at all disturbed by the man's apparent lack of interest.

"I can't say the feeling's mutual." was the bored answer.

The Rear Admiral found himself grinning widely. It seemed he had made the right choice. Marco the Phoenix was exactly the sort of man he needed.

"Ah, well, never mind. Why don't you take a seat?" he gestured towards the sofa opposite his own seat, before turning to address the soldiers. "You guys are dismissed. Leave us."

"But, sir!" the protests rose up instantly. "He's a first-class criminal!"

"Yes." the rear-admiral snapped impatiently, waving his hand dismissively. "Luckily I'm a first-class Marine. I hardly need the lot of you getting in the way. Now scram."

The room emptied in a matter of seconds.

"Well, then." Luffy said good-naturedly. "Sit down, please."

Whitebeard's First Division Commander was looking at him oddly, as if he wasn't sure what to make of him. Luffy merely smiled. After a moment, the blond man moved forward and took a seat opposite the Rear Admiral.

"I'll say this now." Marco started, eyes narrowed and expression guarded. "I won't give you any information on my crew."

Luffy blinked in surprise. In retrospect, he should have known the man would think he was after information. Most Marines would have been. But Luffy wasn't most Marines and he felt he ought to put the record straight sooner rather than later.

"Oh no!" he said, giving the man a strange look. "That would be a waste of time for both you and me."

The phoenix looked mildly disturbed at how easily his concerns had been dismissed.

"Now then, Marco." Luffy continued as if there had been no interruption. "Can I call you Marco?" the man gave a curt nod, posture still defensive but a flash of curiosity in his eyes. "I want to offer you a deal."

"What kind of deal?" the man asked evenly.

Luffy grinned.

"An advantageous one, hopefully. For both parties involved." he assured. "For five days, I want you to be my friend."

"Your friend?" Marco repeated numbly. "You want me to be your friend?"

Luffy confirmed this with a nod.

"Yes. And before you ask, I won't abuse this status by asking you about your crew or Whitebeard's allies."

There was a long pause while the phoenix attempted to digest the demand.

"What's in it for me?" he asked eventually.

His tone made it quite clear that he couldn't see what was in it for Luffy, let alone for him. But that was fine. He didn't need to understand Luffy's motivations. He only needed to agree to the deal, nothing else mattered.

"At the end of these five days, I'll bring you back to Whitebeard and hand you over to him without fuss." Luffy said.

"You'll free me?"

"I'll free you."

Marco leant back in his seat, staring at the Rear Admiral disbelievingly.

"This is insane." Marco said. "You're insane."

"Could be." Luffy agreed easily. "So? Are you in?"

"Yes, fine. I'm in." Marco huffed.

For a moment Luffy let slip a flash of relief, but he picked himself up quickly and plastered the impossibly wide grin he was known for on his face.

"Great!" he exclaimed happily. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, from today onwards and until five days from now, you'll be my friend."


	2. Day II - Betting on Trust

Marco had never thought he would be starting the week by being captured by the Marines. Especially not small-fries. Well, it had been his own mistake so he couldn't be too bitter about it. He had been on edge for a couple of days as he couldn't seem to get rid of the feeling that he was being observed. At first, he had thought he might be followed – which wouldn't have been especially unusual – but after pulling his usual tricks to catch stalkers and coming up with nothing he had started doubting his instincts. Clearly no one had been following him, yet that annoying feeling of a gaze boring down on him wouldn't go away. At some point, he had grown so unnerved by it that he had decided to go fly for a bit, thinking that in the sky at least there would be no eyes to watch him.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

And that was when he had started to freak out. Not in the Izo-style of freaking out with loads of shrieking and fainting attacks but more in 'pretending-to-be-calm' way. He was very good at keeping a cool façade. So good in fact that he had even managed to fool himself. But then of course, the Marines had arrived, and he had been forced to admit that he had none of his usual level-headed thinking throughout the confrontation.

The thing was, they had taken him by surprise. He had just been walking in the street, not suspecting for one second that Marines had already landed on the island, when he had bumped in a cloaked figure. As soon as the two bodies impacted, Marco had felt the cool dreadful feeling of seastone over his wrist and a moment later the tell-tale click of a manacle closing. He had looked at the figure in surprise, more shocked by the fact that he had felt no presence until they had run into each other than by the fact that he was now bound in seastone. After all, it hadn't been the first time someone had managed to put seastone on him. And he'd learnt to make do without his power a long time ago. It was essential for a Devil fruit user.

At that point, he had still thought he was fine. Then, however, the chase had started and he had realized the Marines were always, maddeningly, one step ahead of him. To his shame, he had eventually just given up, figuring it would be easier to escape later – Marines could be surprisingly lax in their security. He obviously hadn't been counting on meeting a Rear Admiral who was more than happy to free him so long as Marco agreed to be his 'friend', of all things, for a grand total of five days. It was ridiculous.

Still, he had agreed. This so-called Monkey D. Luffy seemed interesting and his family wouldn't start missing him for a few days yet so he could indulge his curiosity for a while.

After Marco had agreed to the deal, the two men had discussed the specifics of it, which included a firm ban on any kind of double-crossing. Marco had twitched when the Rear Admiral had brought it up. After all, if either of them was going to double-cross the other, there was no way a simple rule would stop them. Even so, the Marine had seemed confident that it would solve the problem entirely. In fact, he appeared to trust Marco so completely that the phoenix found it hard to even consider going back on his word.

The logical part of him knew that he could easily escape now that he had been freed from the seastone manacles. Even as he was brought to a comfortable room to rest the previous night he had noticed a number of possible exits and taken note of the positions of the guards. He was confident he would be able to make it out safely if he so wished to.

For some reason, however, he felt bound to stick to the deal he had made with the extremely odd Rear Admiral whose 'custody' he was currently in. Which brought him back to the topic of the man sitting opposite him, frowning at the cards in his hand.

Aside from the general oddness of the man's character, Marco couldn't shake off the feeling that something strange was going on with the Marine. The feeling had only grown stronger as Marco started spending time with him, for it had revealed two things to him. First, Luffy was definitely not stupid, although he did his best to make everyone think so. Simple-minded perhaps but not stupid. This, in turn, had led Marco to realize that their meeting was no coincidence. The man had some sort of plan and Marco couldn't even begin to guess at what it was. That was not reassuring but what was even less reassuring was his second realization about the man.

Luffy was extremely careless with his own life. This understanding had not come to him at once. It had come gradually starting from the moment Luffy had taken Marco's shackles off. Then, there had been lunch, when Luffy had made a joke – a joke that sounded both bitter and truthful – about his subordinates trying to poison him at every meal and then proceeded to tuck in without reservation in the food served to him. But more than all of that, there was something dead in his eyes. It was the sort of gaze Marco had seen on men who had lost everything on the Grand Line. Pirates who had already given up on everything.

His thoughts were interrupted by Luffy's unusually serious voice.

"Marco."

"Yes?"

"Your skills at Poker are amazing. I don't think I've ever seen someone cheat so smoothly before." his expression as he said this was one of intense reflexion.

Marco snorted derisively. That really never ceased to surprise him. He was starting to wonder if the Rear Admiral could even be offended. He seemed to think everything was interesting or to be admired where most others would have lost their temper.

"Even though I know you're cheating, I can't seem to pinpoint the method." the Rear Admiral went on obliviously. "You might have some sort of talent!"

"You praise me too highly." Marco said with a snort.

"Now, don't be modest!" he obviously intended to say more but was interrupted by the intrusion of a soldier.

Marco vaguely recognized the man's face as one who had been escorting him to Luffy's office the previous day. The man shot him a very disapproving look. He clearly didn't have the guts to question the Rear Admiral's actions though because he showed no sign of wanting to comment on the present situation.

"What is it Carly?" Luffy asked, barely paying attention to his subordinate.

"It's Charles, sir." the man corrected swiftly, rather sounding as if this was the usual pattern of things. "We have received a report that Tart Top is under attack."

"Tart Top? Is that the place where they make those weird pies?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ah, I don't like that place much…If only they'd make meat instead…"

That line of conversation sounded like an impasse and the soldier wisely kept his mouth shut. It was obvious there was no love lost between the man and his superior officer but it also appeared that the man knew Luffy well enough to know a lost cause when he saw one.

"Oh well, I suppose we'll have to go and help." at that Luffy threw his cards on the table. "Carlos, tell the men to prepare the ship."

"My name is…" the man started saying before abruptly sighing in an 'oh-forget-it' way. "Yes, sir."

He saluted stiffly and left the room without looking back.

Marco gave Luffy a shrewd look. It never ceased to amaze him, he thought sarcastically, that someone as oblivious to names as Luffy hadn't got his own wrong even once. Maybe he could take it as a proof of favouritism.

Luffy got up slowly and stretched, before looking around him lazily.

"Where did my coat go?" he grumbled to himself.

Marco also got up. A lazy sweep of his gaze over the room allowed him to locate the piece of clothing, which had been thrown on an armchair sometime earlier. Noticing that Luffy was nowhere near close to finding it, Marco sighed and walked over to pick it up.

"Here." he said, throwing the coat to the man.

The Marine caught it, most likely having his reflexes to thank for it, and looked at it with an odd expression.

"Oh thanks." he said, sounding surprised to have the item handed to him so easily.

Marco leant against the back of the sofa as he watched the man – who seemed barely out of childhood – swing the heavy coat over his shoulders, adjusting it there before fussing with his shirt and tie. In the short time that Marco had spent in Luffy's presence he had noticed the care he put into a maintaining a distinguished appearance in front of his subordinates. If the sloppiness he demonstrated when left alone with Marco was anything to go by, he only showed that consideration to other Marines, or when working. Not that it bothered the phoenix. Neatness didn't fit Luffy. It made him look like a child playing at being an adult.

"So Tart Top." Marco commented, once Luffy was done fixing his clothes.

"Tart Top." Luffy agreed soberly, before suddenly regaining his usual volubility. "I swear these people don't know what's good in life. Why would you ever take some perfectly nice meat and chuck it into some pastry? It's bad taste, that's what it is. Besides, why would anyone want to make pies? Meat is so much better!"

This manner of speech went on as they walked down the corridors towards the warship. Marco listened to it absently, lips quirking upwards as the salty smell of the sea came to tickle his nose.

Really, there was nothing like coming home.


	3. Day III - Lonely Night

A sleek black cat was perched in the Marine ship's crow's nest. The golden markings resembling jewellery around his neck and those inside his ears glowed in the moonlight, detaching him from the darkness of the night sky. Eyes that flashed with the colour of the sun peered down at the city below with its pie-shaped houses and winding streets.

The whole Tart Top affair had lasted an entire day and a half. Not that the attacking pirates had been anything special. Even with Luffy sipping on a cup of tea during the first half of the assault, it had only taken an hour or so to get rid of all of them and gather them up. It had taken much longer to identify those with a bounty, singling them out from the rest as they would not be sent to the same place. Then there had been negotiations with the islanders which had taken ages. It had taken so long that Luffy had eventually called it a day and decreed they would pick up from where they left off the following day.

They had of course. No matter how annoying it was, negotiating with the citizens was part of his job. So the next morning he had sent Marco away 'to play' as he had put it, to the man's amusement, and had spent his morning arguing with the town's mayor. By the time they had come to a semblance of an agreement, it was well past lunchtime and Luffy was starving. He had eaten his meal alone, which had put him in a terribly sour mood before he had had to go supervise the reconstruction of the damaged parts of the town.

The cat licked his paw mournfully. A whole day wasted away. Tomorrow they would have to set sail for the Brume Archipelago where Whitebeard's ship had been sighted if they were to get Marco back home in time.

Only two days left. He wished he had more time to spend with his friend. Even if Marco probably didn't see him as anything more than just another Marine, to Luffy the time they spent together, playing cards or just relaxing side by side was extremely precious. All his life, he had only ever trained. Being left on a deserted island to hone his fighting skills against wild animals had been a common thing during his childhood. There had never been any other children for him to interact with. Nor anyone else for that matter. It had just been him alone, trying to survive to see another day. And then, his twelfth birthday had come and his grandfather had dragged him off to be trained in a Marine base with old woman Tsuru visiting from time to time to give him tips on Haki. He had joined as an official Marine at fourteen and here he was, three years later, still alone, with no one to call his friends but a pirate his subordinates had captured.

It was pathetic really. But well, the cat thought, getting up to his feet and stretching, it wouldn't last much longer anyway.

He made his way back to the deck in leaps and bounds, darting down the stairs as soon as he paws touched the wooden surface. He was soon buried in a darkness deeper than night, velvet paws trotting silently through the corridors, nose twitching as he followed a scent that had become familiar to him. He eventually stopped in front of the door across the Captain's quarters – his quarters – and opened the door with a leap and a push.

He made his way into the room silently, trotting up to the bed and jumping on the covers without a moment's pause. His glowing eyes trailed over the sleeping man for a moment. Then, he approached the sleeper, paws sinking into the covers with each step. He eventually settled in the crook of the man's neck, rolling into a ball with his head still held above the man's, observing.

Marco was a quiet sleeper. His breath was shallow and his body lied as motionless as a corpse. If not for the warmth he radiated, he could have been mistaken for one.

Feeling a sudden crave for contact, Luffy pushed his furry cheek into the man's and closed his eyes. He was warm and content in a way he had never been before. These past days had been so much fun. The thought of them ending made his feline heart squeeze painfully. If only they could never end….But they would have to. Marco would want to go back to his family. And Luffy…

Well he had nothing to go back to but he had a duty to accomplish. One way or another.

The faint ringing of a den-den mushi made his ear twitch and he jumped up off the bed. He trotted to his own desk on velvety paws, shifting into his human form as soon as he was pas the threshold so that he could lock the door behind him. The ringing was so faint, that even though he was in the same room, Luffy could barely hear it. Someone who didn't know to watch out for it, wouldn't hear it at all.

Sombrely, the Rear Admiral walked over to the desk and reached at its back, pressing a hidden switch to open a compartment under the desk. He reached inside the drawer and picked up the black den den mushi he had hidden there, pushing back the drawer into place before straightening himself.

"Vice Rear Admiral Charles Linley." the black snail began, in a deep voice that sounded familiar to Luffy. "Your orders have changed."

Luffy frowned at that. He couldn't see why they would suddenly change their minds about _that_.

"Rear Admiral Monkey D. Luffy is to be executed the day after tomorrow at noon. Officially, he will have been killed during a confrontation with Whitebeard he had himself orchestrated. Officiously, charges are high treason due to his affiliation to a criminal."

He couldn't hear what his Vice had to say about that but he imagined it was enthusiastic approval as it had been the first time. He smiled bitterly. He sure wasn't loved.

He was a little surprised to hear the next words of the Headquarter's marine.

"It's not your place to question our reasons." the voice said sharply. "Just remember that if you accomplish your mission well, you will be dully rewarded."

The snail's 'katcha' marked the end of the conversation and Luffy remained staring at the snail for a very long time. So in the end, they hadn't changed their minds about the execution but about the date he should be killed on. Lovely.

In a sense, he thought, it was almost reassuring. He didn't think Akainu – for that was who had given the orders, he suddenly realized – would give up on eradicating bad blood when it was in his reach. And since Luffy didn't have anything to live for, the Admiral would find his bloodthirst easily satiated.

A burning pain in his chest made him clench his shirt just above his heart while the other clasped itself in front of his mouth to muffle the sobs that were suddenly spilling out of him.

God. Why was this suddenly so painful to him? He was ready wasn't he? He had always known anyway, deep inside, he had always known. That was why he had abandoned his dreams when he was just six. That was why he hadn't tried to get close to that boy Garp had once introduced him to, the one who lived with the bandits of Mount Colubo. Luffy had known when he had seen the older boy that he would love to be his friend, but he had also known they weren't there for long and that soon the boy would be nothing but a distant memory. So he had closed his heart, shut his mouth and made his eyes dull. It was a technique he had many times after that, when he wanted things to just glide over him. When he wanted to stop caring about all the things he could never do. When he wanted to be erased, so that it would be like he had never been born.

He had done everything, _everything_ , to spare himself and others the pain. So why? Why was he in such agony now?

Was it because of Marco? Marco who smiled like he had committed an infraction and was proud of it. Marco and his habit of licking his upper lick when something exciting was about to happen. Marco who cheated at poker. Marco who looked at him like Luffy was a puzzle he was just about to solve. Marco whose blue eyes always traced the half-moon scar under his eye. Marco who was his friend.

He buried his face in his hands and the last thought in his mind as he sank into the darkness of his own pain as that, for the first time in his life, he had made a mistake in his calculations.


	4. Day IV - Secrets and Confessions

The morning was disturbingly quiet. Marco was lying in his bed, eyes closed though he was no longer sleeping. He was waiting – without really admitting it to himself – for Luffy to come and wake him up as he had done every morning so far. Although Marco usually made a point of getting early to get on with his First Mate duties while on the Moby Dick, he had been treating his stay on the Marine ship as a form of vacation and had been taking the opportunity to lie-in in the mornings. Of course, as he had soon discovered, Luffy had limited patience and would usually run out of it by the time the clock struck nine.

It might have been annoying to have someone barging in one's room every morning to poke his cheek or shake him until he was awake, but Marco had become quite fond of it. It seemed he found most of Luffy's habits endearing. He had originally feared he was contracting some kind of disease but once he had decided to stop being silly about it he had been able to admit that maybe he liked the Rear Admiral a bit more than he ought to.

He sat up in his bed, feeling the beginning of impatience stirring in him and he wondered what was taking Luffy so long. He waited another five minutes before deciding the man wasn't coming. Thinking that he would find him wolfing down breakfast, he got dressed and made his way towards the dining room. The place was deserted. Apparently, most crewmembers had already finished eating. Including, it seemed, the ship's captain.

Now convinced that something had gone horribly wrong this morning, Marco grabbed a piece of toast and made his way up to deck, keeping an eye out for his 'friend'. It took a bit of wandering around until he found the man at the back of the ship, leaning against the railing with a thoughtful look on his face. His gaze was lost in the horizon and Marco was unsure if he noticed his presence. He waited a moment for a potential reaction but receiving none he decided to announce himself.

"Luffy?"

The man swung around so fast Marco was momentarily worried he'd done something to his neck.

"Marco!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't see you there."

The phoenix shot him a deadpan look. Yes, he had noticed the lack of reaction.

"What are you doing here?" the Marine added, earning himself a very pointed stare.

"I was looking for you." Marco answered, rolling his eyes at the Marine. "Since you didn't come to bully me into waking up."

Luffy snorted and said something that sounded like their usual banter but Marco wasn't listening anymore. There was something odd in the man's expression. It looked forced and somewhat fake. His laughter sounded hollow and his eyes were dull. Yet, he was smiling and laughing as if nothing was wrong in the world at all. Marco frowned. Luffy was hiding something from him.

"What happened?" he asked, his serious tone leaving no room for denial.

The smile faltered, happiness falling away in favour of casual indifference.

"Nothing that concerns you." Luffy said, neutrally enough, although there was an edge of warning in his voice.

Marco glared. The logical part of his mind knew that there was no reason for Luffy to tell him anything and even less for him to insist but the more prominent part of him could feel only anger at being left in the dark.

"Tell me." he pressed quietly.

Luffy turned away from him, clenching his fingers as if trying to repress a strong emotion. For a long moment, he said nothing. His eyes were staring at the faraway horizon, his jaw and shoulders tensed. Then his shoulders dropped suddenly, as if forced to relax, and Luffy half-turned his face towards Marco.

"We'll get to Brume Archipelago tomorrow at noon." Luffy said steadily. "I've decided to give you back half a day early."

Marco wasn't fooled by the obvious change of topic but he was so taken aback by the information that he forgot to comment on it.

"Why?" he asked.

He should be happy about this. He was going to get back to his family earlier than planned. It was great news. Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to be relieved. All he felt was disappointment. And dread.

Marco wasn't stupid. He could see Luffy's mood had made a turn for the worse and he didn't think it was the Tart Top affair that had depressed him so. No, something was going on. And he had a very bad feeling about it.

"No reason." Luffy answered.

He tried to sound casual but his voice ended up breaking. Deciding he'd had enough of all this lying and avoiding the topic, Marco grabbed the Marine by the arm and dragged him inside. He ignored the man's protests and the disquieted looks they were getting form the crew and made for the Rear Admiral's office.

Once there he shut the door behind them and slammed Luffy against the wall, trapping him there with his arms.

" _What_ is going on with you?" he asked, only containing his voice for the sake of keeping their conversation somewhat private. "I can tell something's wrong with you!"

He had a lot more to say but he trailed off when he saw the look on Luffy's face. The man's eyes were opened wide and his lips were trembling. Marco realized for the first time how tired he looked. His skin was pale and drawn and there were shadows under his eyes, so dark that Marco uneasily wondered if the man had slept at all the previous night.

Suddenly hyperaware of the man's state, Marco stood awkwardly, unsure how to proceed. He felt something pressing against his chest and dropped his gaze to look at the hand Luffy had placed there.

"Marco." the man said weakly, dropping his eyes so that his expression was obscured. "Please, don't make this harder."

The blond didn't know what 'this' referred to but he nodded nonetheless and took a step back, looking at smaller man uncertainly. Luffy side-stepped him and walked over to his desk.

"What are you doing?" Marco asked, eyes following the man as he sat on his chair and grabbed some documents from a drawer.

"I'm going to work." the Marine answered not sparing him a look.

Marco remained standing close to the door, half-expecting the man to announce he had been joking. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Luffy was actually working _willingly_. No such thing happened though and he had to resign himself to the fact that Luffy was busying himself with paperwork – probably hoping to avoid more awkward conversations. So, he retreated to the sofa and attempted to entertain himself by reading the latest newspapers. All the while trying not to think about Luffy and his secrets and failing spectacularly. Alternating between pretending to read the newspaper and thinking about Luffy kept him busy until lunchtime at which point they silently left the room to eat. Marco had thought Luffy would like to exploit there limited time together after lunch but as it turned out the Marine surprised him again by opting to return to his work. Thus, Marco found himself once more lazing about on the sofa, trying to take interest in a book of astrology. His lazy nature soon took over though and he dozed off.

When he woke up several hours later, he got a glimpse of Luffy's face bathed in the light of the setting sun. Tears were pouring down his cheek and his lips were twisted, making his face a mask of unbearable pain. No sound came from the man. There were no sobs, no screams, only tears and the unmistakable signs of despair.

Marco was frozen in place, unable to make a sound. A lump settled in his throat and he blinked several times as if doubting what he was seeing. Eventually he closed his eyes again, deciding to spare the man's dignity by pretending to have been sleeping all the while. He could not erase the vision of the man's broken expression from his mind though and he waited in anguish, almost holding his breath, until he heard the rustling of papers and a moment later felt a hand shake his shoulder.

"Wake up Marco. You've been sleeping all afternoon." Luffy's voice sounded remarkably calm for someone who had been so distraught a moment ago.

The phoenix opened his eyes, searching the other man's face for signs of sadness but the fiery light of dusk hid any such traces.

"Should we have a game of poker?" Luffy asked with a gentle smile, apparently oblivious to Marco's unease.

Marco sat up, still staring at the Marine who cocked his head to the side questioningly.

"Of course." he agreed eventually, his heart hammering in his chest and the feeling of something going wrong stronger than ever. "Whatever you like."


	5. Day V - Regrets

Their last morning together was spent ignoring the elephant in the room. Marco kept his suspicions to himself although the dubious stare that he fixed on Luffy almost constantly made it clear that he wasn't being fooled by the Rear Admiral's fake cheer. Had it just been the two of them, Luffy would have gratefully abandoned the mask – and himself – but a crew of enemies were watching and he couldn't let anything slip. So, instead, he focused on how lucky he was that he even got to meet Marco, and pushed himself to feel as happy as he looked. Not that it worked.

While he and Marco were playing cards and he was waiting for Marco to play, Luffy let his mind wander towards all that could have possibly happened between them if only Luffy wasn't fated to die that very same day. He hadn't let himself think too much about Marco – and more specifically, his feelings for the phoenix – but now that his doom was imminent he felt he could let himself go. It was never going to be real but it couldn't hurt to imagine could it?

So he imagined kissing Marco, waking up beside in the morning – he strayed from thinking of Marco and beds immediately, feeling the beginning of a bad idea – he imagined lazy days, adventures and freedom, he imagined Marco and himself sometimes as friends, sometimes as lovers, but always together. And he wanted to cry. Because he had to let it go.

He suddenly grinned in bitter irony. To think he had always thought seventeen years were far more than enough, only to find out at the very end that five days were much too short to satisfy him. But even so he didn't think he had made a mistake in 'inviting' Marco. He could lie about a lot of things, even to himself, but he couldn't lie about Marco being the best thing that had ever happened to him. That was just him though. He could lie about everything except the important stuff.

"Luffy?"

He turned towards the blond man standing next to him. The man looked concerned and Luffy wondered in brief panic if his painful thoughts showed on his face.

"You alright?" Marco asked.

The tenderness Luffy could detect in the man's voice only made everything more agonizing. He swallowed, feeling pain as it passed the lump in his throat.

"I'm fine." he answered.

His voice sounded distant. Like it wasn't his voice. It was probably for the best because he didn't think his voice could have been steady right now.

"There's the Moby Dick." he added and gave the order to stop the ship.

Marco was still looking at him but Luffy didn't feel like he could look back without shattering entirely. So he took a moment to compose himself before turning to the pirate.

He looked impossibly beautiful in this very moment. Luffy wondered if it was because he was never going to see him again that he was seeing Marco in such a light. He took it all in anyway. His eyes the colour of a clear sky. His lips that looked like they'd be rough and his chin that always bordered unshaved. Luffy blinked and forced himself to smile.

"Well here we are." he said, attempting to sound as high-strung as usual. "You're free to go."

"Right." Marco said, but didn't move.

He stared straight into Luffy's eyes, lips moving like he was struggling to say something.

"Goodbye." Luffy said, not intending to drag things longer than needed, especially since keeping up the smile in front of Marco was getting increasingly harder.

"I'll see you again." Marco said firmly, with perhaps a hint of despair in his voice.

Then he shifted into his phoenix form – Luffy noting appreciatively how beautiful the bird was – and flew away in direction of the Moby Dick.

"No you won't." Luffy whispered into the wind, and he felt a lone tear run down his cheek.

As the sound of countless guns being raised resounded all around him, he looked up at the sky with empty eyes.

"I thought you might at least read me my condemnation." he said warily.

He felt spent. Like he had put all his energy into pretending and now that it was all coming to an end, he was falling into some sort of lethargy.

Charles – his vice that was likely to be promoted to Luffy's post in the near future – stepped forward.

"You are hereby to be executed on accounts of your relation to the Worst Criminal in History, Monkey D. Dragon." he announced pompously.

Luffy rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes." he said with a dismissive wave of the hand.

He didn't actually care to hear his condemnation as he'd known its exact contents since he was eleven. Or at least that was when he had known that inevitably the day those words would be said to him would come.

He thought of the letter to his grandfather he had never finished writing. He wondered what Garp would say about the whole thing. Probably not much. Luffy had learnt about not caring from him after all. The old Marine loved his job more than he loved his family and that was how it had always been. So it made sense that he hadn't wanted to get attached to Luffy more than necessary and in return Luffy had soon understood that he should not get attached to Garp. At all. So for years, they had been very good at not being together.

He suddenly felt glad for that. He didn't want to hurt people. Although he had probably failed in that by getting close to Marco. Marco. He took a shaky breath. Marco. It was hard to give up on Marco. He had given up on everything else with disturbing ease, but even as he was a moment away from being killed, he couldn't let go of those special memories he had made in the past five days. He just couldn't.

He turned around at last, to face his countless executioners and he was surprised to see quite a few of them looking agonized by what they were doing. That brought a genuine smile to his lips, albeit a small one.

"Nothing personal." he said. "Right?"

He grinned at them all, because it wasn't their fault and because they were probably going to die here and he felt sorry for them. But even so, he had a fire in his soul that would not let him go down quietly. And he knew exactly what he was going to do.

"Goodbye." he murmured to the sky, imagining it was Marco looking down at him. "I'm glad you're not here. I didn't want to hurt you."

Then he closed his eyes and let himself go. He had awakened his Zoan fruit surprisingly early in time and he had always wondered if he was just that close to the edge to begin with. After all, a Zoan's awakening was less of a super-power and more deliberate insanity. The first time he had become conscious of the darker aspect of his Neko Neko no Mi: Bastet Model, it was after he had woken up in a ravaged field, enemies and allies alike lying dead on the ground all around him and the terrible taste of blood in his mouth. He had been told later on that his fruit awakened into a ferocious black lion of gigantic size – Sekhmet – and that in this form he didn't appear to distinguish friend from foe.

He had hated it from the moment he discovered it. But now, he gave in to the lion willingly.

He faintly heard screams of terror erupt around him and the mad scrambling of people running for their lives, as his the great lion took over and his consciousness sank deeper and deeper into darkness until it had retreated to the deepest recesses of his mind. At times he could hear dull echoes of the beast's roars and tingles of pains would sometimes reach him. But other than that he was completely disconnected from the rampaging lion.

It was only much later that he briefly came to. He could feel his body sinking into water, or more accurately he could feel the terrible sensation of paralysis that he knew to associate with the sea. He was sinking. It was the end. And with the relief of knowing that years of suffering were over, came the hollow sensation of regret and anguish that he would never see Marco again. With a final tear slipping past his eyelids, Luffy closed his eyes and at last he gave up.


	6. Day VI - Living

His first though upon waking up was 'I shouldn't be waking up, I'm dead'. Then he had to focus on blinking to make the light that streamed into his eyes less blinding. By the time he could make out his surrounding, his eyes were swimming in tears that had nothing to do with sadness. He squinted and blinked some more, wanting the tears to fall away so that he could finally get a good look at where he was.

The first thing he eventually saw was the ceiling, wooden like the one you found in a ship. Then, he forced his head to move to the side so he could examine his surroundings. Every muscle in his neck protested but he managed it and he found himself gazing at another bed with white sheets, at a table with medical instruments and at a round window that look out to sea.

He was on a ship. Not his ship. Probably in a medical bay. Definitely not _his_ medical bay. If he was, some doctor would be there poking him with all sorts of needles all the while insisting it was all perfectly necessary, even though Luffy knew it was not.

"I see you're awake." a female voice commented from the side he wasn't turned towards.

He resisted the urge to tell her to get on the other side of the bed so he could look at her and painfully turned his head the other way, blinking at the figure towering over him.

She was obviously a nurse. Either that or she liked dressing up as one. But aside from that he had no means of identifying her. He didn't necessarily have a good memory for names but he was usually alright with faces and this was one he was confident he had never seen before.

"Where am I?" he asked, sounding groggier than he liked.

"On the Moby Dick. Marco was adamant we fish you out of the water."

"Marco." he repeated numbly.

"Yes." the nurse confirmed. "I had to send him away to eat a while ago but I imagine he'll be ba…"

She obviously imagined right, because she hadn't even finished her sentence that Marco was strolling in. Luffy's eyes roamed over the man's body, noting absently that he managed to look bored out of his mind even now.

"Marco." he said feebly.

He wanted to cry. He wanted to throw himself in Marco's arms and cry his heart out. But for one thing his body was still asleep and for another he had promised himself long ago that he was never going to cry again no matter what. It had to do with not showing people weakness, or giving them satisfaction and even more importantly not caring. It didn't occur to him at this precise moment that he already cared anyway and that Marco potentially knew that already.

"Luffy. You're awake." the blond said making a beeline for the ex-Marine's bed.

The nurse side-stepped him and took the opportunity to disappear in a back room.

"Uh." Luffy said, forcing his eyes to look towards the ceiling because seeing Marco there was doing horrible things to his heart.

A moment later he felt the mattress dip under the phoenix' weight.

"What happened?" Luffy asked quietly, successfully managing to move his fingers into gripping the sheets.

"I heard the roars and the gunshots and figured something was wrong so I asked Pops to head for your ship but when we got there it had already sank." Marco explained in the neutral tone he only used when he disapproved of Luffy's latest stunt. "It was Namur who found you."

Luffy had no idea who that was but he made sure to file the name away so he could thank him later. Providing he felt grateful when he saw him again.

"I'm surprised Whitebeard went to the trouble of checking on a Marine." Luffy commented, trying to ignore how tight his throat felt.

"I told him if he didn't I'd go on my own." Marco told him, sounding entirely too casual for that kind of announcement.

"Oh." Luffy choked out.

And suddenly he was in motion, clumsily pushing himself up and reaching out to grab Marco's shoulders. Tears were pouring down his cheeks and he knew he was breaking every rule he had ever made for himself but he couldn't bring himself to care. So he cried on Marco's shoulder, and he let the man hold him in his arms and Luffy tightened his hold on him because he was allowing himself to care and he cared _so_ _damn much_.

He was happy. The feeling washed over him like a warm wave, erasing every doubt and fear he'd had a moment earlier, taking away years of barriers and restrictions.

"It's okay." Marco was murmuring in his ear. "We're okay now."

Luffy wondered what the phoenix was feeling at this precise moment. Was he happy? Was he relieved? But more than that he wondered how long it was going to last. A part of him it seemed, was forever conditioned to doubt.

"Did you know?" Maco asked when Luffy had quieted down – he sounded pained.

Luffy remained silent for a long while, his forehead still pressed into the man's shoulder.

"I found out when I was eleven, that I'm the son of the Revolutionary Dragon." he explained softly. "They call him the Worst Criminal in History, so I knew I couldn't be forgiven for that. They tried to kill Gold Roger's son so why wouldn't they try to kill me? It just made sense. And then…"

He took a shaky breath, hoping to steady his voice.

"Then, two weeks ago, I intercepted an order. An order to kill me, given to my crew. And I guess I was ready then, but I thought I would regret not making a friend even once so I started planning. And that's how we ended up capturing you and that's why I made that deal with you."

"Why did you let me go early?" Marco asked after a long moment of silence.

"The orders changed. The execution was to happen sooner than planned so that they could blame my death on Whitebeard." Luffy pushed himself away from Marco, looking up into the man's eyes. "Why did you save me?" he asked.

Marco briefly looked taken aback.

"Why wouldn't I save you?" he asked before adding derisively. "We're friends after all."

Luffy gripped the man's shoulder so tight that it must have been painful, his lips twisting angrily.

"Marco." he said forcefully.

The phoenix winced due to pain or to ex-Marine's tone, Luffy couldn't tell.

"Because I like you. Is that what you want to hear?"

The answered angered Luffy even more and he threw a punch at Marco's face. Unfortunately his limbs were still sluggish from continued sleep and the phoenix stopped Luffy's fist easily.

"I want to hear the truth!" Luffy snapped. "Why do you have to be so…."

"It _is_ the truth." Marco cut him off.

"UNBEARABLE!" Luffy finished, shouting over Marco's voice.

He would have loved to go on a rant about all the things that made Marco the worse human being on the planet but the phoenix placed a hand on the back of Luffy's head and pulled him into a kiss. Marco's lips were just as rough as Luffy had imagined they would be and he was also – rather annoyingly – a very good kisser.

Luffy's anger dissipated as soon as Marco slipped his tongue in his mouth, deepening the mouth and making Luffy's mind go blank.

"So I was thinking," Marco said after they had pulled apart and Luffy could only stare at him with wide eyes because _he_ , on the other hand, had _stopped_ thinking. "You could stay here. Pops would like you I bet."

Luffy gaped at him.

"Are you…" he stammered. "Are you kissing me to _coerce_ me into becoming a pirate?!" he half-asked, half-shrieked.

"No?" Marco answered, looking far too amused for anyone's good. "I'm coercing you into becoming a pirate so that I can keep kissing you." he said pushing Luffy into his pillows with a searing kiss. "I'd definitely make it into a good deal for you." he murmured licking the shell of Luffy's ear.

"You're unbearable." Luffy muttered weakly.

Marco smirked at him, clearly already knowing that he'd won this round.

"I didn't like being a Marine anyway." Luffy said sulkily.

Marco's smirk grew wider.

"You weren't." he agreed, his thumb tracing shapes on Luffy's hip.

They kissed again.

"I guess being a pirate could be nice." Luffy commented against Marco's lips before pushing the man away before the blond could take this as a personal challenge to show him exactly how 'nice' it could be. "But first I need to talk to Whitebeard."

The displeased look on Marco's face made Luffy laugh. He laughed even harder when his expression turned sulky. This was what it meant to live, he thought.

And it wasn't bad at all.


End file.
